Verizon Deploying Fiber Optics to Homes and Businesses in 6 More States in Northeast and Mid-Atlantic

FALLS CHURCH, Va. - Fast as light, Verizon is moving to roll out advanced fiber-based broadband technology to customers in six more states.

At a news conference here today, the company announced new fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) deployment to homes and businesses in Virginia as well as in parts of Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania -- bringing to nine the total number of states where work is under way. The company had previously announced FTTP deployment in California, Florida and Texas as part its plan to pass some 1 million homes and businesses with the new technology this year. Verizon plans to pass some 2 million additional homes and businesses with the new technology next year.

Verizon will hire between 3,000 and 5,000 new employees by the end of 2005 to help build the network.

"Verizon fiber all the way to the homes and businesses of our customers means they will have the highest-speed computer connections available from anyone," said Paul Lacouture, president of Verizon's Network Services Group. "No other company is offering this cutting-edge data service, and the reliability of fiber also means unprecedented dependability as well."

Verizon has introduced new data services - offered on the FiOS platform - that already are or soon will be available in parts of the three states where Verizon began installing FTTP earlier this year. Verizon also expects to begin marketing FiOS services in Falls Church and some other communities over the next several months. The company expects to market video services on the new FTTP network next year.

"FiOS has been an extraordinary hit with our earliest customers in Texas and elsewhere," said Bob Ingalls, Verizon Retail Markets president. "People are literally lining up to get what they know is a fantastic service at an excellent price."

Verizon's FiOS broadband Internet access services offer download speeds of up to 5 Mbps (megabits per second), 15 Mbps and 30 Mbps, with upstream speeds of up to 2 Mbps for the first two products and 5 Mbps for the third. The 5 Mbps service sells for $34.95 per month, when purchased with a package of Verizon services, and $39.95 when purchased separately. [For more information on the technology and pricing, see the FTTP and FiOS fact sheets in the Verizon press kit at http://newscenter2.verizon.com/kit/fiber/.]

The new FTTP technology is capable of carrying a wide array of existing and new services, including high-speed broadband products that are far superior and more cost-effective than most services offered today, as well as video applications in the future. FTTP technology uses a fiber-optic cable to replace the existing copper-wire link that now connects homes and businesses to Verizon's nationwide network.

Fiber offers tremendous advantages to network operators, in addition to new and superior services for customers. For example, fiber offers reliable service in periods of wet weather that can affect copper. Less day-to-day maintenance is required, and repairs are quicker when problems do occur. Verizon's fiber engineering eliminates electronics between the customer and the network so that problems of providing repairs and power for equipment in the field are reduced.

In addition, Verizon has invested in designing some 40 new operations support systems to handle everything from electronic processing of customer FiOS orders to remotely diagnosing and correcting problems - often before a customer experiences a problem.

"We know small-to-medium-sized businesses and customers at home are ready to move to the next generation of high-speed data communications," said Ingalls. "So our aggressive move to become the first major telecom company to deploy fiber all the way to customers means we'll be able to offer services and applications that aren't yet even on the drawing board."

Lacouture added, "We're hiring between 3,000 to 5,000 employees by the end of next year, and we expect this project will have significant economic impact beyond purchasing equipment for FTTP deployment. We're also buying hundreds of new vehicles, computers, test equipment and other supplies we'll need to support the new employees."

Verizon expects to make an $800 million capital investment in FTTP this year.

"Verizon is building a broadband future for America. And today we're one big step closer," Lacouture said. "The future will ride on the bandwidth of fiber optics. No one is making that future more real than Verizon."

Summary of Verizon's FTTP deployment and FiOS marketing efforts:

After launching FiOS marketing efforts in Keller, Texas, in August, Verizon has begun marketing its high-speed FiOS Internet access products in six more communities in the West and South:

Huntington Beach and Murrieta, Calif.

North Tampa, Fla.

Colleyville, Grapevine and Southlake, Texas

In addition to the new FiOS marketing efforts in the West and South, new Verizon FTTP deployment work is under way in:

Parts of Riverside, Orange and San Bernardino counties in California

Parts of Delaware

Parts of Hillsborough and Pasco counties in Florida

Parts of Montgomery County in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area in Maryland

Parts of Essex and Middlesex counties in Massachusetts

Parts of Nassau, Rockland and Westchester counties in New York

Parts of Bucks and Chester counties in Pennsylvania

Parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex in Texas

Parts of Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun counties, as well as the communities of Falls Church, Leesburg and Herndon in Virginia

A Dow 30 company, Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) is one of the world's leading providers of communications services, with approximately $68 billion in annual revenues. Verizon companies are the largest providers of wireline and wireless communications in the United States. Verizon is also the largest directory publisher in the world, as measured by directory titles and circulation. Verizon's international presence includes wireline and wireless communications operations and investments, primarily in the Americas and Europe. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.